Cardiovascular disease

• Cardiovascular disease


  A term used to describe diseases of the heart or blood vessels
• Coronary heart disease


  • Coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle get blocked by layers of fatty material, causing the arteries to become narrow so blood flow is restricted and there's a lack of oxygen to the heart muscle
• Stents


  Devices that are inserted inside arteries to keep them open so blood can flow through to the heart muscle
• Statins


  Drugs that can reduce the amount of 'bad' (LDL) cholesterol present in the bloodstream, slowing down the rate of fatty deposits forming
• Unlike stents and statins, using CGP books only has advantages
• Artificial heart


  1. Mechanical device that pumps blood for a person whose own heart has failed

  2. Usually used as a temporary fix until a donor heart can be found or the person's heart can recover

  3. In some cases used as a permanent fix to reduce need for donor heart
• Artificial hearts


  • Less likely to be rejected by the body's immune system than a donor heart
  • Don't work as well as healthy natural hearts, can cause blood clots and strokes
• Heart valve replacement


  1. Valve can be replaced with a biological valve from a human or animal, or a mechanical man-made valve

  2. Replacing a faulty valve is less drastic than a whole heart transplant
• Faulty heart valves


  • Can cause the valve to not open properly or allow blood to flow in both directions rather than just forward, reducing effective blood circulation
• Artificial blood


  A salt solution (saline) used to replace lost blood volume, can keep someone alive until they can produce new blood cells or receive a blood transfusion
• Ideally, an artificial blood product would replace the function of lost red blood cells, eliminating the need for a blood transfusion